By Karen Wolitzer
It's no wonder that he has won multiple Grammys...and I'm not talking about years and years ago. He won two Grammys in 2002...one for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for
Auld Lang Syne and the other for Best Traditional Blues Album for
A Christmas Celebration of Hope."I keep my awards in my home where people can see them," B.B. says proudly of the many, many awards he's received for his music. "It's still thrilling to win a Grammy. You never get too big or too famous to not want people to think of you positively."That's not a problem...people are still loving him and at 77 years of age he's still going strong. About his age, B.B. jokes, not only didn't he expect to be performing at 77...he didn't expect to be alive! But he is alive and kicking and he's still light on his feet, singing and playing the blues with relentless passion. Time has had no apparent effect on him, other than to make him more popular, more cherished and more relevant than ever. He's still out on the road, playing for people, popping up in a myriad of T.V. commercials, and laying down tracks for his next album. "I love the blues," he says. "I like the sound of the music...that it tells stories about life...even my life...things that I've done and wished I could do. I always wanted to be a musician, since I was young...but I didn't want to be a blues singer. I wanted to be a Gospel singer. I'd sit on the street corners and play and people would ask me to play Gospel songs but they didn't give me a tip. When I played the blues, I'd get tipped. Thank you doesn't pay the bills...money pays the bills. So, that's why I started playing the blues." Born September 16, 1925, on a plantation in Itta Bene, Mississippi, he began playing the guitar at the age of twelve. "I never took a lesson," he admits. In his youth, he would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, TN, to pursue his music career. Memphis was where every important musician of the South gravitated, and which supported a large musical community where every style of African American music could be found. B.B. stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most celebrated blues performers of his time, who schooled B.B. further in the art of the blues. In the mid-1950s, while he was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, a few fans became unruly. Two men got into a fight and knocked over a kerosene stove, setting fire to the hall. B.B. raced outdoors to safety with everyone else, then realized that he left his beloved $30 acoustic guitar inside, so he rushed back inside to retrieve it, narrowly escaping death. When he later found out that the fight had been over a woman named Lucille, he decided to give the name to his guitar to remind him never to do a crazy thing like fight over a woman. Ever since, each one of his trademark Gibson guitars has been called Lucille. "That story is absolutely true," he confirms . "There have been 16 Lucille's."B.B. continues to tour extensively, averaging over 250 concerts per year. He's thrilled to be playing at Westbury Music Fair, again. "I've played there several times," he says fondly. "I love it there and I love talking to my fans."When he's not busy working he loves to watch TV. "I'm a TV freak," he says candidly. "And I love fishing and flying..."Come see B.B., Lucille and blues singer Bobby "Blue" Bland at Westbury Music Fair on Friday, April 11th at 8 pm.
